human heart | neteyam

thirty-five

s'more's pov

i walked behind neteyam - wanting to follow him where ever he was going. i had an idea he was most likely following lo'ak as i saw him in front of neteyam. but, i also wanted to know what was so important that neteyam had the urge to go after him.

i watched neteyam grab onto his shoulder to turn him around but lo'ak just shrugged him off. "get off me," he spit - grabbing the harness for his ilu.

"lo'ak, why do you always have to make things so hard?" neteyam questioned - placing his hand on top of lo'ak's head to comfort him. i had finally caught up to them which caused them both to make eye contact with me but, abruptly their focus went back to one another.

"no. you mean- why can't i be the perfect son like you?" lo'ak's words were harsh; i gasped. "the perfect little solider?" neteyam took a step back - astonished by lo'ak's choice in words. "well, i'm not you!"

i saw neteyam's eyes grow dark from how mad he had gotten. i had never seen him so hurt - so angry. "you cannot go for him-" lo'ak pushed neteyam back; interrupting him.

"he-he's my brother, i'm going," lo'ak then turned to walk away from us but neteyam quickly snatched him back.

you could hear the hurt laced in neteyam's voice as he spoke. "oh, he's your brother?" he pointed to himself. "no. i am your brother," tears brimmed his eyes - making direct eye contact with lo'ak.

i was at a loss for words. i wanted to say something - something that would make the situation better but i knew it wasn't my place. i had wished lo'ak wouldn't be so hard headed but i had also wished neteyam would trust lo'ak to make his own decisions. "lo'ak please," i tried to make peace but he just rolled his eyes.

"i'm all he has, i'm going," and, he was gone before anyone could do anything. neteyam pursed his lips in anger - he took a quick glance at me before shaking his head negatively and running toward the edge of the dock.

aonung and his friend had been standing there. so, neteyam took it upon himself to get them to help. "come on, he's going to payakan," he hit the top of aonung's chest before calling his ilu and jumping onto it; following lo'ak.

i had a feeling he was a bit upset at me for trying to intervene. i knew the tension would subside though. so, i decided to not think too much about it and to hop onto my ilu; cookie.

"where are you guys going?" kiri asked from a distance as we were about to pass her.

"payakan," i shouted - i didn't have time to tell them the full story so i had just hoped they would follow along.

"wait for us-" kiri cut herself off - deciding just to follow us. i made my heart warm at the fact that all of us were gathering together to help lo'ak. whether it was a good idea or not - it didn't matter.

what mattered was that we all had each others back. like jake had always said "sully's stick together," that was our weakness, but our greatest strength.

we finally reached lo'ak - he was  aggressively trying to pull the orange marker from out of payakan's fin. "help," lo'ak cried. i immediately jumped off of my ilu to help.

tsireya had emerged from the surface; hoping onto payakan to help. she had came from no where - almost scaring the living shit out of me. "everyone pull!" she yelled. she gripped the tracker with the bottom of her feet; pulling it up.

nothing was working. all of us pulling, it had seem so far lodged into his fin that we almost had the idea of giving up. "here," neteyam had an idea stike his mind; throwing a rope from his ily to aonung.

he tied it around the tracker so that neteyam could pull on it with his ilu. "continue to pull, don't stop," he yelled - his ilu swimming it's hardest to get the thing out of payakan.

and we all pulled. finally, the tracker popped out and all of us, in result - fell into the water. the adrenaline was rushing through my body. i could practically feel my heart beating out of my chest - and the fact that i now had to pee extremely bad because my anxiety had risen.

neteyam took the tracker in his hands. "go- i will lead them away,"

"neteyam, no. it's too dangerous," i went to grab onto him but he snatched his body away from me.

he took a deep breath before speaking. "i love you.. now go," and he pushed me back before diving into the water; disappearing.

tears fell from my eyes - i was terrified for him. but, i knew he could handle himself so i listened to what he had said and dispersed with the rest of the group. it took everything in me not to go following him. if he were to get hurt i wouldn't be able to live with myself - knowing i let him out of my sight.

my vision became blurry as i tried my hardest to control my sobs. so, i broke the surface and went underwater. i could now see everyone in front of me. lo'ak, tsireya, tuk, kiri, aonung, roxto, and noxta. they all seemed to be running from something - something i hadn't noticed.

turning around i was met with a version of submarines in the shape of crabs. my heart dropped - they were getting closer. i sped up closer to noxta and aonung, everyone else had now started to disperse; separate. so, i had to make up my mind and decide who i was going to pair with.

not that i really had a choice anyway. "tsireya," noxta pointed in front of her - my eyes trailed to the tip of her finger. i almost choked on my own spit by what i had seen.

lo'ak, tsireya, and tuk being carried up by a net. lo'ak had managed to get himself out of the grip but he hadn't let go - he was trying to cut his way through it to free tuk and tsireya.

my heart rate picked up and i swam faster to catch up to them. i had felt noxta's hand brush against me to try and stop me but i didn't let her. i swam as fast as i could on my ilu before leaping out of the water and grabbing onto the net.

i grabbed the dagger that was secured to my hip before roughly cutting the net. "s'more!" tuk yelled; yanking on the net to help.

but unfortunately both lo'ak and i couldn't cut through the rope fast enough and all four of us ended up on the ship. i hissed as some of the unfamiliar avatars grabbed onto us - i was trying to defend myself but deep down i knew they were stronger than me.

"don't touch them!" i heard a voice. my braid had been pulled back so that i couldn't move. my eyes shifted upward toward the voice.

i felt a sigh of relief leave my lips as i saw him. he was okay - he was alive. "spider?" i cried. i wanted to run up to him and pull him into a hug. his eyes met mine. he looked confused - his eyes scanned over my body in shock.

"emma?" he asked. i let out a cold laugh - i was in pain but i decided i could try and lighten the mood. i had completely forgetten that i no longer was in my human body. he probably didn't even recognize me at first.

i hated the way he said my first name but i didn't care at the moment. i just nodded. "yes, it's me... emma,"

—
a/n

still deciding who to officially kill off because someone WILL be dying in my book 🫦

also don't mind spelling errors, i didn't have time to read over it 😭

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